Connections
by Lynse
Summary: Maddie knows that the Booo-merang has keyed into Danny, for whatever reason, so what's she to think when she sees it collide with Phantom? (Sequel posted)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, this takes place before _Phantom Planet_, clearly, but otherwise doesn't have a distinct position in the timeline. Somewhere near the end. As always, standard disclaimers apply.

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><p>Maddie Fenton heaved the box of inventions onto the kitchen table with a sigh. If Jack hadn't had the contents of his latest experiment strewn all over the lab in the basement, she wouldn't have to do this tinkering up here. This box wasn't full of their discard inventions, exactly, but each and every invention in it had a fault, and she felt it was beyond time that she tried to actively fix it.<p>

The Fenton Finder. The Ghost Gabber. Even the Booo-merang. She could understand a similar glitch affecting the first two inventions, or the first and third invention, but she wasn't convinced it was a single glitch that was affecting all three. For whatever reason, those three inventions—and potentially others, for all she knew—registered her son as a ghost.

Her son. Danny Fenton. A _ghost_. It was laughable. Ludicrous. Fodder for a practical joke, if anything. She wouldn't doubt that the thought may have once crossed Tucker Foley's mind, but she would have hoped that Danny's friends would have known how important their work was and decided against tampering with it. Besides, if it had been a joke on the part of Danny's friends, Danny would have known about it. He would've had to have given Tucker and Sam their inventions, after all. But Danny clearly didn't _like_ being thought a ghost by their inventions, and the problem had always been evident from the very beginning.

It was something they had done wrong. It had to be. But why only Danny? Why _always_ Danny? How on earth had their defect managed to single him out every single time?

It wasn't as if their inventions didn't work otherwise. The Fenton Finder was merely a portable unit based on the ghost radar that they had in the Assault Vehicle. Both devices picked up plenty of real ghosts. They hadn't had much cause to use the Ghost Gabber of late, given that most of the ghosts that tended to come through were humanoid and did speak English. Granted, she had run into one or two animalistic ghosts not too long ago and wished she'd had the Ghost Gabber on hand. Still. It was only the Booo-merang that had never, as far as she could remember, keyed into a real ghost.

Then again, it was _supposed_ to key into the specific ecto-signature of a ghost. Since it had somehow fixated on Danny, they should, theoretically, have to completely reset the device to clear it. Unfortunately, Jack hadn't included that little feature, so she was going to have to take it apart completely to accomplish that.

Maddie reached for the screwdriver, but a thought struck her before she actually used it.

Over the past year, Danny had drifted apart from their family. He cringed whenever they mentioned ghost hunting. He made up excuses to avoid seeing whatever new invention they'd come up with, though Jazz assured them she always filled Danny in later. He ducked away whenever she waved at him when she saw him during one of the ghost drills at his school. He didn't confide in her, or Jack, like he once had.

She could understand his reluctance, given the accident with the Ghost Portal, but it wasn't like he avoided the lab altogether. He was quite happy to track them down if he needed something or if he had plans to use the computer to play video games with his friends into the wee hours of the morning. She didn't really approve of that habit. Weekends, yes. She wouldn't restrict him then. But even though she had yet to catch him at it, she was sure he was sneaking down to play at night, too. He never looked like he was getting enough sleep these days.

That was probably one of the main reasons for the drop in his grades. She knew Danny was clever, and he'd always been good at thinking on his feet. But he simply wasn't trying in school anymore. Mr. Lancer had had to put Danny in detention more than once for coming in late, falling asleep in class, or skipping it altogether. And whatever he was doing, it usually wasn't with Sam and Tucker. She had asked Mr. Lancer, and they were usually in class even when Danny wasn't.

If they weren't, he'd told her, quite bluntly, Danny would probably be failing English, and doubtless a number of other classes as well.

But discipline, in whatever form, didn't seem to get through to Danny, and the absences, tardiness, and napping continued. And if that wasn't bad enough, he routinely missed his ten-o'-clock curfew on school nights.

Just _what_ was her son getting into?

Maddie looked at the Booo-merang in her hand.

It might just give her the answer. Right now, Danny was supposed to be in school. It would be a simple enough thing to toss the Booo-merang and follow it to Casper High with the Assault Vehicle. And if she wasn't led there, well, then she might very well find out what Danny was up to.

"Jack," Maddie called, "I'm going out for a bit."

"Be sure to pick up some more fudge!"

"I wasn't going for groceries, sweetie," she replied, but Jack didn't seem to hear her. A moment later, she could hear the unmistakable sound of him working in the lab, and she knew he was too preoccupied to pay her much mind. She was probably lucky he'd heard her the first time.

As it was, she lost no time in setting her little plan into action. It was a simple test, and if the Booo-merang went straight to Casper High School like it was supposed to, it would put her mind at ease. She could convince herself that Mr. Lancer was, perhaps, exaggerating, and that Danny wasn't absent quite as often as he thought he was. And, if she kept up these random checks, that might very well hold true. Danny wouldn't very well keep up whatever he was doing if she kept following the Booo-merang to find out precisely what he was trying to keep from her.

Almost as if it knew what she was planning, the Booo-merang, once activated and thrown, spun high above the streets—and stuck to those streets rather than skimming across the rooftops as the crow flies. She followed it easily, chuckling as she saw other drivers on the road pull off to one side or take the next turn as soon as they spotted the Assault Vehicle. The reputation of Jack's driving wasn't lost on the people of Amity Park, and even when she was behind the wheel, people still tried to be accommodating in case they were chasing ghosts.

Or perhaps they tried to avoid the Assault Vehicle on principle. For all she knew, the adjustable steering wheel was common knowledge, and her fellow townsfolk might well know how easily Jack could have grabbed hold of the wheel if he had been here and had circumstances necessitated it.

Maddie breathed a sigh of relief as Casper High came into sight, and she eased into a parking spot around the corner before getting out to follow the Booo-merang on foot.

But the Booo-merang didn't angle down towards the school as she'd anticipated. Danny should be in English now, but the Booo-merang didn't make a beeline for Mr. Lancer's classroom. Instead, it swung around to the back of the school, heading lazily in the general direction of the football field.

"Oh, Danny," Maddie groaned. "_Why_?"

And then she noticed the distinct green flash of an ectoblast.

_Ghosts_.

She should have had the ghost radar operating in the Assault Vehicle. She'd have had warning then. And why weren't there any alarms? Why hadn't anyone told them? This wasn't just a ghost drill. This was the real thing, a ghost attack, right outside the school, and they had carried on as if they hadn't even noticed!

Which meant, Maddie realized as she turned back to grab a few emergency weapons from the Assault Vehicle, that Phantom was fighting one of the ghosts. And Danny was there…. But _why_? What was he doing? If the ghosts had tried to take him hostage or use him as bait, the school would have known, and they should have been alerted, but….

Maddie started running, cutting across the parking lot—an option she wouldn't have had if she'd taken the time to start up the Assault Vehicle again—and rounded the corner, hugging the brick wall. In a split second, she realized Phantom was fighting the ghost known as Skulker. The former appeared to have the upper hand and had just pulled out his stolen Fenton Thermos. Ectoblasts were still being exchanged, but it was clear even to her that Phantom would be winning this battle.

It took Maddie a second longer to find the Booo-merang. It was still circling around, coming in closer to the fighting ghosts. Phantom had activated the thermos and had trapped Skulker in its beam. Tearing her eyes away, Maddie scanned the grounds, searching for Danny. She couldn't spot him.

He _had_ to be there somewhere. She had no idea _what_ he was doing there, but she was certainly looking forward to hearing the answer. Just as soon as she found him.

Expecting to have Danny pointed out to her, Maddie turned her gaze back to the Booo-merang—just in time to see it knock Phantom on the side of the head.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: After the astounding response to the first chapter (thank you!), I felt terrible about leaving you for so long, so I got this out a little bit earlier than I'd kept saying. I hope this chapter lives up to whatever expectations you might have. Also, an extra thank you to everyone who took the time to review; I truly appreciated it.

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><p>"Ow!" Danny did a flip in mid-air. He was too late to catch the thermos he'd dropped—though, for a bit of good luck, it had actually stayed closed—but he still had enough time to catch what had hit him.<p>

It was the Booo-merang.

"What the heck?" Who would've thrown that at him? And why? Last time he'd seen the thing, it had been in a box in the basement. How the heck would it have— "Aw, crud." There, right at the corner of the school, was his mother.

Staring at him.

Danny drifted down to the ground and picked up the thermos. He still had plenty of options, right? Pretend he hadn't seen her. Go invisible. Fly away. Avoid whatever weapon was undoubtedly aimed at him at this very moment.

Danny risked a glance over his shoulder. His mother hadn't moved. No weapons were pointed at him, no nets were flying his way. That…probably wasn't good, actually. Being attacked was normal. Not being attacked…wasn't.

He flew slowly towards her, Booo-merang in hand and thermos strapped again to his belt. She was watching him, her eyes following his every move. "Um, hi," he said when he was close enough, absently rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. He held out the Booo-merang with his other hand. "You dropped this."

His mother made no move to take it. "Danny?" she asked, quietly, almost—fearfully?

Oops.

"Um, uh, you see—"

Maddie sprang into action then, taking him by surprise. Before he knew exactly what had happened, she had him pinned against the wall of the school, a piece of the Fenton Fisher line tied to his right arm that linked him to her left arm. She'd taken his thermos and tucked it away in one of her pockets, clearly not happy with the fact that he used his parents' technology. The Booo-merang lay forgotten on the ground.

"What did you do to my son?" Maddie growled.

Okay, this wasn't exactly the turn of events he was expecting. He wasn't entirely sure it was better, either. Things could very easily get much worse from here, and he'd like to avoid that, but seeing as he was tied with the stupid Fenton Fisher, that might be a little difficult.

How come his mom could always untangle that line and his dad couldn't? And how come he'd been too preoccupied to realize she'd been getting ready to attack him?

Oh, right. Because he'd thought she'd figured out his secret. And because physically attacking ghosts wasn't something his parents usually did. Well, not without the Ghost Gloves, at least.

What was one of those first rules of ghost hunting his dad was always going on about? Don't underestimate your opponent or something? Never assume their actions are predictable? Apparently, it worked both ways.

Maddie was still glaring at him, and Danny swallowed. Now was probably a good time to answer her. "Um, saved him?" he ventured. "Him and everyone else in the school? Because I stopped Skulker?"

"That's not what I mean," Maddie said softly. She'd stepped back a bit, so she wasn't nose-to-nose with him now, but that didn't mean he was any less trapped. Another ghost in this situation might have starting blasting her by now, but Danny could never do that. Besides, knowing his mother, she had something else up her sleeve and any ghost who even thought about sending a ghost ray her way would find an ectogun levelled at his head before he could blink.

Danny opted for a smile, trying to pretend things weren't as bad as they were, but it felt kind of shaky. "What did you mean?"

Maddie frowned and cocked her head slightly, evidently still trying to work things out. If he was lucky, she wouldn't. "Danny…. The Booo-merang…. And then _you_…."

"So, uh, I guess this means you fixed it, huh?"

"How did you even know it was broken?"

Danny froze. Was that something he wasn't supposed to know? But, then again, the Booo-merang wasn't broken, per se. In his parents' eyes, it had just never worked. Only it had. On him. In both forms. And Vlad, once, but he figured that was just a fluke. Vlad had been in the way, and the Booo-merang hadn't had time to avoid him. Or something like that.

Danny managed a half shrug. "I dunno," he said. "I mean, I've seen it before, so it's not new, but you don't use it. Well, I haven't noticed you use it before today. So it stands to reason that it was broken before, right? And now you've fixed it."

Maddie was still staring at him, searching his face for an answer. "The Booo-merang keyed into my son," she said slowly, "from the moment Jack brought it up from the lab."

"Right," Danny said. "So now you've fixed it."

"I never touched it."

Crud. "Then Jack fixed it."

A short trill of laughter, too hysterical to be entirely believed. "You're the reason some of our weapons fixate on Danny, aren't you?"

Not good. Oh, man, so not good. So definitely not good. Danny tried another smile, hoping it would be more believable than the last one. "What makes you think that?"

"Because the Booo-merang hit you, and it's designed to key into a ghost's specific ecto-signature. And, apparently, that's yours."

"You just told me it was keyed into your son," Danny said, trying his very best to sound incredulous instead of unbelievably nervous. "I mean, come on. I probably just got in the way or something." Please let her buy that, please let her buy that, _please_ let her buy that….

"You and Danny," Maddie said. "You're connected somehow, aren't you? You're using him as your foothold into the real world."

Danny stared at her. "That's possible?"

"Don't play me for a fool, ghost. You know very well it's possible." Maddie closed her eyes for a second or two before saying, "Where's my son?"

"I don't know, class? I mean, if you think the Booo-merang was homing in on me all the time and that I just sort of, I dunno, contaminated Danny or something, then there's nothing wrong with him, is there? He should be wherever he's supposed to be. Which is probably class." It was a good thing he'd had to make these sorts of excuses often enough that he could remember to talk about himself in third person. It was still weird, though, even if it was easier when he tried to think of his human self and his ghost self separately.

"I need some straight answers, Phantom, and I'm going to get them if I have to sit you two down side by side and make you tell me what's going on."

Okay, still really not good. "Um, well, maybe—"

But Maddie was already pulling out her own Fenton Thermos, and Danny's world dissolved into bright light.

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><p>Maddie retrieved the Booo-merang, tucked it away into a pocket next to Phantom's stolen thermos, and headed into the school. The bell rang just as she reached Mr. Lancer's classroom. Children spilled out into the hallways, easily fitting into the flow. Sam and Tucker were the last ones out, and Danny wasn't with them.<p>

By the time she'd reluctantly arrived at that realization and stopped expecting Danny to stumble out after them, they'd managed to evade her and had disappeared into the sea of students.

Sighing, Maddie knocked on Mr. Lancer's open door and walked in. He looked up, surprised. "Mrs. Fenton?"

"Was Danny in class today?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"He got here on time, for once," Mr. Lancer said. "But fifteen minutes in, he had to go to the bathroom." Mr. Lancer didn't add what Maddie could already deduce: Danny hadn't come back. "I'm going to have to restrict his privileges if he keeps this up, you know."

"No, of course, I completely understand," Maddie murmured. But truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure if it would help. Danny had never done this before. He hadn't ever been top of his class, not like Jazz, but he had been bright, and interested, and now….

Something had changed.

And she rather thought that something was Phantom.

Maddie bit her lip. "Sam and Tucker—" she began.

"I'm not sure they know," Mr. Lancer interrupted. "For all that those three are as thick as thieves, they'd looked worried. I know that glancing at the clock is normal for students, but I don't know if they heard much of what I said. I think they expected Danny to come back this time." He snorted softly. "Can't say I know how they could tell the difference. This last disappearance wasn't any different from the others."

"When Danny turns up again," Maddie said, "tell him to come straight home. It's high time that we had a talk."

"If he turns up again, and if I see him, I will," Mr. Lancer replied. "I've got a prep period now if you want to—?"

Maddie shook her head. "Not without Danny. Talking about what we don't know won't help us any. But I'll keep in touch with you, and we can perhaps set up a conference early next week, if you've the time."

"I'll make the time," Mr. Lancer promised.

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><p>Maddie spent much of the rest of the day watching the clock as well. Jazz came home at the usual time, but she didn't know where Danny was. "I'm assuming he's with Sam and Tucker," she said, "but I don't know for sure. I didn't see any of them at the Nasty Burger when I drove by, but then again, I wasn't really looking."<p>

Danny didn't answer his cell when she phoned him, but it wasn't until Maddie had phoned both Sam's and Tucker's parents and received opposing replies—that Danny was spending the night at Tucker's, that he was spending the night at Sam's—that she really started to worry. Neither child, of course, was home but had rather phoned home to relay the message. The three children were all to have a sleepover at someone else's house.

Sam and Tucker evidently weren't as unaware of Danny's activities as she'd thought.

Jack didn't seem worried. Not yet, anyway. "They're probably coming here," he said, "and Danny just forgot to tell us." He didn't seem to realize that, had that been the case, Sam and Tucker would have told their respective parents that story instead.

Of course, with the amount of trouble Danny was going to be in when he did get home, he wouldn't be having any sleepovers for a very long time.

By supper, Danny still hadn't turned up, and both Sam and Tucker had phoned _her_ to ask if he was home. Apparently, he was supposed to meet them for a movie and he hadn't shown up yet. She couldn't help but wonder how much truth had been in that question; for all she knew, it was simply their way of finding out if she knew where Danny was.

Which she didn't.

But she couldn't help but think that someone did.

Maddie glanced at the Fenton Thermos that stood undisturbed on the counter. She hadn't told Jack that she'd captured Danny Phantom. He was…excitable. And she didn't need that right now. She needed someone who was calm and in control. Truthfully, she wasn't sure how much longer she could blindly apply that description to herself.

At ten, Jack went out in the Assault Vehicle to look for clues or ghosts who might have kidnapped Danny. Jazz was tasked with manning the phones and seeing if he came home—and keeping an eye on the Fenton Portal to make sure no other ghosts managed to sneak through, locked or not, since they obviously had some way of bypassing it more frequently than just slipping through natural portals. Maddie, for her part, said that she was going out to search on foot to check the places Jack couldn't reach with the Assault Vehicle.

She took the Fenton Thermos with her, along with all the equipment she could carry. She needed answers, and nothing had happened today that convinced her that Phantom wouldn't have them.

Danny Phantom. He was rather gullible for a ghost, thinking she was going soft just because she'd called him by his first name. He probably wouldn't fall for that again, so she should make the most of the opportunity now that she had him. She shouldn't squander it.

And yet that was exactly what she was going to do: squander it. Because she had to. Because Danny…. Danny….

This wasn't like Danny. He wouldn't just disappear without a word. Not when there were no signs, signs they might have missed before but that would be all too clear now in hindsight. There was trouble at school, yes, but surely that wasn't enough to convince him to run away?

But he couldn't have run away. He hadn't taken anything. He'd even forgotten his wallet; she'd found it on his desk when she'd checked his room for any sort of clue as to his whereabouts. And given that _he_ was the one to leave the school, to skip out on Mr. Lancer's class and not come back, that surely meant it was unlikely that he was the victim of foul play.

Didn't it?

"Oh, Danny," Maddie said quietly, "what happened?"

But the night held no answers, and Maddie knew that the thermos in her hand was her best shot at getting any. As much as Phantom tried to deny the connection he had with Danny, she knew there had to be one. Call it woman's intuition. A mother's hunch. But she knew there had to be _something_.

She set up in the park, off the main trails and a short distance into the main wooded area. If Phantom got free, he would have the advantage; it would take her far longer to stumble through the trees, tripping over roots and ducking around branches, than it would be for him to phase through them as he flew past. But she wanted somewhere quiet, somewhere secluded, and this was the closest place that came to mind.

When the time finally came to release Phantom, she was ready. He hardly had time to blink before she had him bound with the Fenton Fisher, his arms and legs pinned together with a phase-proof net. To her surprise, he seemed less alarmed by the prospect that he was trapped than he was by the fact that it was dark.

"How long was I _in_ there?" Phantom asked, eyes wide, still peering up at the bit of sky he could see through the treetops. His eyes found the moon, and he seemed to relax a little. "Um, just a day or two, right? Not a month or longer?"

He had a concept of time and some knowledge of astronomy at that. Interesting, but not pertinent, and she couldn't afford to pursue that realization now. "You know where my son is, don't you?"

Confusion. Phantom could wear so many more masks than the other ghosts; it was a wonder he still knew when to use them, that he could tell which emotion was the right one to appear to have. "Why would I know where your son is?"

"Because you're connected," Maddie said, repeating her earlier words.

Phantom looked uncomfortable now. So easily he could exchange those masks. No wonder some of the townspeople were fooled into thinking he was a good ghost. "I, well, it's…complicated. Danny and I aren't…. I mean, I just, sort of, um…."

Maddie crossed her arms and waited, keeping a firm hold on the ties that bound Phantom.

"You really don't want to know," Phantom finally said. "I'm sure that, if you let me go, I might be able to find him…."

"I'm not the fool you believe me to be. If you know where he is, tell me."

Phantom remained silent.

It was curious that he wasn't actively trying to break free, but she could ponder that later. "If you don't tell me what I want to know," Maddie said casually, "I'll see to it that your afterlife is ended." Jack certainly threatened the same often enough, swearing to rip apart Phantom—and every other ghost, for that matter—molecule by molecule.

To her surprise, Phantom reacted to the threat with a chuckle. "No, you won't," he said softly. "Not if you think I know something about your son, or that we're connected, or whatever." He cocked his head at her. "You won't take that risk, even if you're not sure there actually is a risk."

All right, he had her there. She'd have to admit that. But two could play at that game. She could turn his words on him as easily as he had turned hers on her. "You always insist that you're saving people, Phantom," she said. "You imply that you're capable of compassion. If you are, then recognize me for who I am. I'm not a ghost hunter, not now; I'm just a mother desperate for answers, searching for her son."

Phantom opened his mouth, closed it, and opted for staring at the ground. But Maddie didn't say anything; she fully intended to wait for an answer, however long it took to come. She knew Phantom knew _something_.

Time, however, dragged on, and the only reply she was getting was silence.

"Please," Maddie finally added. The ghost boy glanced up at her again, so she elaborated, saying, "Phantom, I don't expect you to understand, but it _hurts_. It's not a physical pain, but it's no less real. Danny is missing, and I have no idea where he could possibly be. If you tell me, you'll save me a lot of heartache."

Phantom's mouth opened again, but he still hesitated. "Maddie," he finally said, "let me go."

"I can't. You and Danny—"

"Have our secrets," Phantom interrupted, "like everyone else."

"Just tell me where to find him," Maddie said, "and if he's there, I'll let you go. I promise."

"I can't."

Maddie laughed. It was a desperate laugh, a hopeless one, and it barely masked a sob. But it was laugh or cry, and she was afraid that if she began to cry, she wouldn't be able to stop. "You might pretend you're different from other ghosts," she said, "but you can't be. Not if you can't see this, the state I'm in."

Phantom sighed. "I said I can't," he said. "Not that I wouldn't. I would tell you, honest, but right now, I can't. I just…. I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's impossible," Phantom explained. "If you leave me here, or suck me into the thermos and take me with you, or whatever, I can never tell you where to find Danny Fenton."

"This is no time for false loyalties."

"This isn't _about_ loyalties," Phantom said. Seeming to deflate, he added, "But it might as well be."

Maddie frowned. "Phantom, my questions aren't that hard to answer." She expected him to protest this, of course, as he clearly believed the opposite. When he didn't, she gave him a hard look—and realized the net holding him was entirely covered in a thin frosting of ice.

He'd been playing her. Biding his time. Waiting for her to get so worked up that he could just escape.

A glint of green gave her warning. She brought one hand up to cover her face as the net burst, but her other hand was fiddling with the thermos. She was quick enough that Phantom wasn't quite out of range when she trained its beam on him. He tried to fight it—"No! You can't! I need to—"—but he wasn't strong enough to escape.

"I need answers, Phantom," Maddie told the thermos, "and I'm going to get them." But her heart was heavy as she started a more active search for Danny, and she realized she'd staked a bit too much hope on the fact that Phantom, in his delusional belief that he was helping the town, would put aside the fact that she was a ghost hunter and help her find her son.

But ghosts, it seemed, were all the same after all, when it came down to it.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Many thanks to everyone reading this story, especially to those who take the time to comment on it.

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><p>It was three in the morning. Jazz was still the only one home. Sam and Tucker had called her earlier, hoping she had news about Danny, but she hadn't. And the only thing she'd learned from them was that he'd gone off to fight a ghost. It had been during English, with Mr. Lancer. He hadn't made it back before the end of class, which, while not the norm anymore, wasn't exactly unusual, either. The fact that he'd missed lunch was, and the fact that he never did show up again definitely was.<p>

They'd come over around midnight, and she hadn't lectured them about trying to get any sleep. She wasn't going to be getting any herself, either. When Sam had insisted that she and Tucker go into the Ghost Zone in the Spectre Speeder, reasoning that a ghost—probably Skulker, or maybe even Walker if Danny had somehow ended up in the Ghost Zone first—had captured him. Someone needed to look for him there, Sam had said, and she and Tucker were the best ones to do it.

The Fenton Portal had been open for those three hours. Not a single ghost had come through, thankfully, but perhaps they didn't expect it to be open at this time. They usually managed it at some point while Jack was working down here, when he got caught up in an experiment and didn't remember he'd left it open.

But as far as Jazz knew, neither of her parents had been doing anything too destructive. Her dad was still in the very early experimental stages of the latest weapon, and she'd heard her mom muttering about trying to fix up some of the old weapons. And neither of them had mentioned ghost hunting today, and she was sure her dad would have said something if that had been the case.

"It probably was Skulker," Jazz said quietly. "He's always after Danny." She'd hoped saying it aloud would make it all sound more preposterous, but it only sounded that much more likely—and horrible.

Yes, Skulker always was after Danny. But before now, Danny had always bested him. Somehow. Eventually.

But what if he'd needed help and no one had been there to give it?

Jazz stopped pacing and sat down on a chair in the lab. She had one hand curled around an ectogun. The other rested on the counter, the phone a finger's breadth away. But it didn't ring, and the Fenton Phone on her ear didn't crackle to life.

No progress reports from either side.

No answers, then.

No Danny.

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><p>There was no sign of Danny. Jack hadn't found anything, she hadn't found anything, Jazz hadn't heard anything…. Maddie collapsed on the bleachers, having trekked back to Casper High over the course of the night. She knew she couldn't keep this up much longer. Even driven by worry, anxiety chasing away much of her sleepiness, she was still <em>tired<em>. And that meant she missed things. It was easier now that she wasn't just relying on the Fenton Flashlight—the sun was starting to come up—but she was only reminded of the passage of time and everything that meant.

She was beginning to wish desperately that she'd never heard from Sam and Tucker. It would have been easy to believe that Danny was with them. But, at the same time, she knew she'd hate to be lied to by anyone, especially those two, who would think they were doing it to help. She had no doubt that they'd cover for Danny even if they didn't know exactly what he was up to, as Mr. Lancer suspected. She just wished some loyalties wouldn't stretch so far.

Phantom clearly thought they did, if he had any real concept of loyalty anymore. She rather doubted it, but it was something he could mimic, if only crudely, after observing human interactions. Why was it that that particular ghost had to stop acting human when she desperately needed him to understand what she was going through? If he'd only _help_ her.

He knew where Danny was. She had no doubt about that. He just wouldn't tell her. He enjoyed seeing her suffer. It was a kind of revenge he could get on her, withholding that information, knowing she couldn't hurt him because she risked losing her last connection to her son. He'd said as much himself.

But what connection could he possibly have? That worried her as much as Danny's disappearance itself. Danny knew better than to associate with ghosts, which meant that, whatever the connection was, Phantom had done it without Danny's consent. Or, possibly, his knowledge.

And as much as she hated to admit it, there was a very real possibility that whatever Phantom had done was beyond her knowledge. As much research as she and Jack had done on ghosts, it hadn't really prepared her for this. Whatever this was.

Maddie found herself staring at the thermos again. She was loath to let Phantom go free, but she was beginning to wonder if she had a choice.

Jazz had been defending Phantom for some time now, and Danny was always uncomfortable when they spoke of the destruction Phantom caused. It was quite possible that neither of them knew precisely what hold Phantom had over Danny. But Danny…. Danny hadn't been himself for quite some time.

She'd noticed, of course. They all had. It wasn't just the suffering of his schoolwork. He spent less time at home and less time with them. He wasn't sleeping as well. He'd always been clumsy, but he seemed to injury himself or drop things more often than he used to. Jazz had mentioned the possibility of Danny being bullied in school, back when Danny's clumsiness had escalated after his accident, but Danny had never said a word, and she had yet to ask Mr. Lancer if he'd noticed anything unusual, convinced that he would have brought it up if he'd noticed anything himself.

There were only so many things Maddie was willing to chalk up to being a teenager, so many so-called 'stages' she could convince herself that Danny was going through. He pushed them away, all of them…. Though not Jazz, not as often as he used to. But Jazz was clever. If she knew anything about Danny, about any connection between him and Phantom, she'd tell them. She knew that they were the only ones who could help Danny, given their experience.

But, if Jazz knew, perhaps she didn't realize the extent of it all. She had been, after all, convinced by Phantom's act despite their protests. Maybe she didn't know the damage that could be done. Maybe she thought they would try to use that connection to get to Phantom.

Maddie's mouth twisted. Instead, Phantom had used his connection with Danny to get to _them_. If Jazz knew…. If _Danny_ knew….

But if Danny knew, he certainly wouldn't know the whole story. Phantom would never tell it. Not when it suited his purposes otherwise.

And if Danny knew, why would he allow it? Had Phantom threatened him? Threatened to hurt _them_ if Danny didn't comply? Or had Phantom forced it on him, not giving him even the semblance of a choice?

And if he had…how?

As she'd told Phantom, it was possible for ghosts to gain a foothold in the real world by taking advantage of a connection with a living being, but there were undoubtedly many other ways that such connections could be forged. What had Danny gone through?

Why hadn't she pieced it together until now?

Why hadn't Danny _told_ them?

What hold did Phantom have over him? What had he threatened? What had he promised? What had he said that would make Danny ignore everything they'd been telling him for years? Why hadn't Danny come to them for help when he realized something was wrong, even if he wasn't sure what it was?

When had they lost his trust?

And what was she going to do if Phantom had managed to gain it? If he'd managed to trick and connive and beguile her son into believing whatever he'd said? How could they possibly….

But they couldn't do anything, Maddie realized, if they didn't find him again.

"Phantom never denied he and Danny had a connection," Maddie said, rolling the thermos between her hands, "and he didn't want to tell me about it. He didn't think I'd like it."

He was probably right, but that didn't mean she didn't want to know.

Maddie pressed the release button on the thermos for the second time that night. The cap sprang off and Phantom spun out, looking disoriented. He noticed the brightening sky, and then her, and then….

He didn't fly off, as she'd expected. He didn't come any closer, either, but he did drift down so that he was only floating an inch or two off the ground. He was staring at her, and she at him.

Finally, he opened his mouth. "No weapons this time?"

"No." Nothing except the thermos, which she had already closed again. She kept her hold on it, not quite willing to put it down in case Phantom did try to attack her, but…. She was hoping he might give her some answers if she pretended to ask in a more…relaxed setting.

She had a terrible yet utterly certain feeling—her mother's instinct, she suspected—that getting answers out of Phantom would be the only way she'd see Danny again.

"It's, um, been a long night, I guess," Phantom said slowly.

"Where's Danny?" Maddie asked, not even trying to hide her desperation or her weariness. Phantom might very well try to take advantage of her, but as he'd forged a connection with Danny, perhaps he'd be lenient for once.

Were ghosts even capable of that? She wasn't sure anymore. Her instinct told her no, but Phantom…. Phantom was different. Just a little. Enough to give her pause. He hadn't attacked her yet, at any rate, and he'd had plenty of time to do so.

And she was making a rather large bet that that was Danny's influence on him. Connections would have to work both ways, wouldn't they?

"Why do you think I know?" Phantom asked, playing at being innocent as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. A small voice from the corner of her mind pointed out that she had seen Danny do the same many a time when he was nervous. That gesture alone made her think Phantom had picked up a few things from Danny, besides his energy and whatever else he used.

"Can you honestly tell me you don't? You never denied that you were connected." Phantom opened his mouth as if to do this, but Maddie continued on. "You even said you could find him. I want to know where my son is. I want him back. So release him."

Phantom blinked at her. "Huh?"

"You're connected," Maddie repeated. She'd lost count how many times she'd said this now, but it was getting harder to repeat instead of easier, because Phantom never corrected her. "Release him. Break that connection. Leave my family alone."

Phantom swallowed. "Um…."

"Any connections forged can be similarly broken," Maddie said, still managing to keep her voice neutral.

"Really?" For a few seconds, Phantom looked interested. Then he seemed to realize precisely what she'd said, and he avoided her gaze. "But, um, this is different, you know." He risked a quick glance. "It's not what you think it is. Danny and I are just…friends."

"Don't lie to me," Maddie said, her voice sharp. She'd had quite enough of lies.

Phantom winced. "It's not really a lie."

"It can't be the whole truth, either. Danny _knows_ better than to associate with ghosts!"

"Danny knows not all ghosts are evil," Phantom countered. "I'm not, and he knows that."

"Then you tricked him." Maddie's fingers clenched the thermos tightly, and it was everything she could do not to attack Phantom then and there.

"Look, Danny's helped me out before," Phantom said, watching her carefully. "It was a while back now, but did Jack ever tell you what happened at the fair? The time Technus attacked it? When he'd taken over your Assault Vehicle?" Phantom must have noticed her blank look because he added, "It was also the time he possessed your house and moved it to the waterfront."

She did certainly remember that; it had taken them a lot of time and more expense than she'd cared to move their home back to its proper lot. But she didn't remember Jack mentioning anything about Danny and Phantom at the fair.

Phantom seemed to realize this. "Technus had put up a ghost shield, and I couldn't get through it to stop him. Danny helped me."

"Danny helped you fight a ghost?"

The incredulity in her voice made Phantom freeze. "Um…. That time," Phantom said slowly. "He hasn't exactly helped me since. Usually I'm the only Danny fighting."

Maddie didn't even chuckle, and the smile on Phantom's face faded. "My point is," he said, "that Danny's my friend. I'm not going to hurt him."

"So you're saying I don't need to worry." Her voice was flat.

"Well, yeah."

"Even though my son is _missing_, you don't think I should worry."

"Well—"

"Just answer me this, Phantom. Do you know where Danny is?" He may not want to tell her where her son is, but just getting him to admit that he knew would be enough for now. It would give her some hope. They could get the answer out of him later, surely, and then….

But what if they couldn't? What if Phantom had betrayed the friendship he claimed to have with Danny? She was really going to have to talk to Danny when he got home about the company he kept. His explanations would have to be less vague than Phantom's, and she certainly wasn't going to let him get away without making any explanations.

Just…after. Once she knew he was safe and sound, once he was back under their roof, she could ground him until he was finished high school.

"Uh, I've gotta go," Phantom said, taking a step back.

When Maddie made no move to stop him, he jumped in the air and flew off, winking out of sight when he was hardly thirty feet off the ground.

If Phantom knew where Danny was, and if he was going to pretend he had an ounce of compassion, then perhaps he'd try to get on her good side in the foolish hope that it would mean they'd stop hunting him. Or perhaps he'd let Danny return to them as a supposed sign that he was telling the truth, that he didn't want to hurt Danny, that they really were friends, that he wasn't an evil ghost.

Maddie snorted. The fact that he had done anything to Danny in the first place completely undermined his attempt at proving that he was everything he claimed. But if it meant he would also return their son unharmed, she was willing to give him that chance.

If she thought they had any other choice, she wouldn't. But she wasn't sure they did.

Besides, she didn't have to tell Jack. If this didn't work, she only had herself to blame, and the guilt would be enough to keep her from questioning herself again before she blasted Phantom out of the sky.

But if it didn't…. If Danny never…. If Phantom….

Maddie closed her eyes. "Please let Danny come home safely," she whispered.

* * *

><p>Jack couldn't remember how many times he'd driven past Casper High, but when he spotted Maddie, alone and unmoving out by the football field, he drove up to fetch her. It was time they went home. After an hour or two of sleep, they could keep looking. But even he had to admit that it was getting harder and harder to search.<p>

"Get in, Mads," he said from the open window as he pulled up alongside his wife. Technically, he shouldn't be driving here, but he'd thrown out the few rules of the road that he actually followed shortly after they'd realized that Danny wasn't just out with his friends, that he wasn't going to rush home a few minutes too late to be in time for his curfew, throwing a flurry of excuses at them before sneaking guiltily up to his room. "You need to get some sleep. You're not doing Danny any good here."

"He'll come back," Maddie said. "He has to. Doesn't he?"

"He'll come back," Jack repeated. He hoped it was true, but a rather unpleasant thought had crossed his mind during their search. They were well-known ghost hunters. As such, their children might be thought good targets for ghosts. Jazz was better than she used to be, grudgingly agreeing to take a Jack-o'-Nine-Tails to keep in her school locker just in case, but Danny….

In the past year, Jack could count the number of times he'd seen Danny hunt ghosts on one hand. And for a Fenton, that was completely unacceptable, but no amount of convincing had gotten Danny to agree to spend more time ghost hunting with them. Jack had suggested going after the ghost kid more than once, for instance, since he seemed to show up a lot, but Danny had always made up one excuse or another to avoid that. And he was clearly reluctant when he _was_ dragged along, and he made any excuse he could to avoid even picking up half their weapons. After all, given Danny's inexperience, he should be wearing a Spectre Deflector in all fights. But every time Jack brought it up, Danny went pale and made up excuses or just ran out of the house altogether.

If a ghost was going to try to get at them through their kids, Danny would be the easier target.

And since they couldn't find him anywhere, since he'd disappeared from school, since no one knew anything…. It was all too likely that a ghost was behind this.

Maddie didn't say another word as she climbed into the Assault Vehicle. Jack drove home at a reasonable pace, still keeping his eyes peeled. There were always clues, always hints that a ghost was behind something. They just needed to see them, not overlook any detail, and then they'd figure it out, and then they'd find Danny.

They had to.

* * *

><p>Danny flew back to FentonWorks but didn't change into his human form yet. The Assault Vehicle was gone, so that meant his dad was probably out with it, since his mom had been on foot. And the house looked empty, but that was no guarantee Jazz wasn't home. She might be asleep, but….<p>

Her room was empty, her bed undisturbed. A quick scope of the house revealed she had to be in the lab, so Danny headed down there. His sister was asleep on a chair, head slumped forward, a Fenton Phone in one ear and the house phone and an ectogun close at hand. Feeling a bit guilty, Danny reverted to human form and shook her shoulder gently. "Jazz?"

"Hnh…what?" Jazz blinked, and in a split second, she was wide awake. "Danny!"

"It's, um, only been one night, right?"

"Yes, but, Danny, where _were_ you?" Jazz asked. "I was so worried! Mom and Dad are out looking for you, and Sam and Tucker went into the Ghost Zone, and—"

Danny cringed. "Look, I'm sorry," he said, cutting in. "It's not really my fault. Mom caught me in a thermos."

Jazz frowned. "She never said anything."

Danny shrugged. "I think I sort of shocked her. She saw Phantom get hit with the Booo-merang, and I think she was looking for me."

"What? Danny, you have to be more careful!"

"Well, what I supposed to do about it? I didn't even see it coming! I was busy fighting Skulker." Danny shook his head. "Never mind. Call Sam and Tucker back before they get into trouble, and then phone Mom and Dad and tell them I'm home."

Jazz's worried frown returned, but she contacted Sam and Tucker, giving them a cursory explanation and promising that Danny was fine and would give them the whole story tomorrow. But when Danny offered her the house phone—he wasn't about to get chewed out by his parents over the phone and then in person, too—she shook her head. "Not yet."

"Why not? They're worried. I think Mom's going frantic. She didn't even shoot me when I was Phantom."

"What am I supposed to tell them?" Jazz asked. "What are _you_ going to tell them? Once they realize you're fine, the first thing they're going to ask is where you were."

"Oh. Right." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Um…. Do you have any ideas?"

Jazz shook her head. "Did Mom keep you in the thermos the whole time?"

"She let me out twice," Danny said, "and then she let me get away the last time."

Jazz's eyes narrowed. "That doesn't sound like Mom."

"I know," Danny agreed, "but I'm not really complaining. I'm back, aren't I?"

"Danny…." Jazz bit her lip. "What exactly did Mom tell you?"

"Besides the fact that I was missing? I dunno. She's convinced that I'm connected with Phantom somehow, but she never really explained it, so…. What?"

"Don't you get it?" Jazz asked. "Mom's going to figure it out!"

Danny shook his head. "I doubt it. I mean, I took care of it. You, um, remember that time when saw two of me and thought you were going nuts? When you knew my secret and I still didn't know you knew it?" At Jazz's hesitant nod, Danny continued, "I reminded Mom of that time. I mean, she didn't see as much as Dad did, but there was definitely me and Phantom."

Jazz looked puzzled. "You know," she said, "you never _did_ explain that to me. I didn't think you could duplicate yourself at that point."

"I couldn't," Danny replied. "I split myself with the Ghost Catcher. Long story. Let's just say I managed to pull myself together and I know not to try that again. But Mom and Dad don't know that, so they'll never put two and two together and figure out I'm Phantom."

"All right," Jazz said, "but that still means you need to come up with an explanation as to where you were."

"Sam and Tucker can cover for me," Danny said. "I'll just pretend I forgot to call."

Jazz shook her head. "That's not going to work this time. Sam and Tucker phoned here looking for you."

"Oh." That wasn't the best news, since it meant his ready-made alibi was already out the window. But he guessed he shouldn't have expected anything else, if his parents were out looking for him. They would've started with Sam and Tucker. "I was hoping they'd just talked to you."

"Mom talked to them first," Jazz said. "You can't blame them; they _did_ know there was a good possibility you were at home. It wouldn't be the first time you'd gotten caught up in something and hadn't had time to call them."

So he still had to come up with some excuse. "She'd probably check if I used Valerie as an excuse, wouldn't she?"

"Oh, Danny, don't," Jazz said. "That's too risky. Besides, if she's convinced you're at all connected to Phantom, she's going to be asking questions."

"So it, um, probably wasn't the smartest idea to tell her I was friends with Phantom, huh?" Danny winced at Jazz's look. "It was that or get blasted to pieces, okay?"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "You need to be more careful, Danny," she chided. "You have to watch what you say or someone _else_ is going to figure out your secret."

Why did Jazz always have to be right? "Look, just help me come up with something, will you? I'm going to need a good excuse this time, not the kind I usually give."

Jazz sighed. "Danny, you can't just—" She broke off as the sound of the front door opening caught their attention.

There was a quiet murmur of voices, then Jack's voice cut through, calling, "Jazz? Did you hear from Danny?"

Danny shot her a panicked look, but Jazz just gave him an apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry," she said. "I guess you ran out of time."

"Jazz?" Footsteps at the top of the stairs now.

"Are you awake, sweetie?" Maddie's voice.

"I'll, um, be outside, I guess," Danny said, hurriedly transforming back into his ghost form. He phased through the wall just before his parents came down to talk to Jazz. He settled down on top of the Ops Centre, still invisible, thinking. He didn't really want to wait. His parents were worried and tired, and they didn't deserve to think he'd been kidnapped by a ghost or anything like that.

He had to come up with some excuse soon.

He just had no idea what he could say.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Many of you were likely expecting a brilliant excuse on Danny's part, but considering that this is Danny's excuse, it won't be. And when it doesn't quite add up, doesn't make sense, his parents will either ignore it or try to weasel it out of him later, assuming they notice in the first place. Lies can only get him so far. Onto the story now, and thanks to everyone who has been taking the time to review.

* * *

><p>Danny checked the lab about ten minutes later. Jazz was gone, so he went up to her room. Sure enough, she was perched on the edge of her bed, waiting for him. "What are you going to say?" Jazz asked quietly.<p>

"I still don't know," Danny admitted. "Please tell me you have some ideas."

Jazz closed her eyes and sighed. "Turn your cell phone off," she said, "and then you can pretend the battery went dead, so you'll have an excuse for not answering."

"Then what?" Danny asked, though he was quick to oblige. It wasn't something he would've thought of, so he was grateful that Jazz was here for this.

Jazz opened her eyes. "Maybe say you were out looking for Phantom? Amity Park's big enough that, if you'd kept moving, they might have missed you."

"So just…come back? Pretend nothing was wrong?"

"Danny, if you just turn up, Mom's never going to let go of the idea that you and Phantom are connected. Your best chance is to undermine it. You said you admitted to being friends. If you work with that, you might not do so much damage."

"You don't think I can just claim to have been attacked by a ghost?"

Jazz's eyebrows rose. "For, what, twenty hours straight? Dad was scanning for ghostly activity the entire time he was searching, Danny. And you don't look beat up enough for them to believe a ghost kidnapped you and you just now managed to escape." She shrugged. "But you can try. They might just be happy enough to have you home to overlook things like that."

"Mom's still going to question me about Phantom, isn't she?"

"You made your bed," Jazz reminded him. "You have to lie in it. I can't exactly get you out of this."

Danny groaned. His sister was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. "Fine. I'll be back soon." At least it was Saturday. His parents were less likely to kill him than if it had been a school night.

"Oh, hold on a sec, Danny," Jazz said, reaching up to the Fenton Phone on her ear. "Okay, I'll send Danny right down to let you in." She removed the Fenton Phone and looked up at Danny. "Sam and Tucker are back. You'll have to open the portal and get them back outside. I had to close it before Mom and Dad came down to the lab."

Danny nodded, but he was still a bit worried. "You'll come down and help smooth things over, right?"

"I'll do my best," Jazz said, "but it'll only be worse the longer you put it off."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Danny muttered. But he nipped down to the lab, invisible and intangible, to get Sam and Tucker out of the Ghost Zone and to cover up the Spectre Speeder before his parents realized anything was going on. When he dropped Sam and Tucker off around the corner and changed back to human form, Sam asked him if he wanted them to come, hoping it might temper his parents' distress.

Danny really wished they could, but he knew they had to get home, too. "You guys haven't had any sleep," he said.

"Neither have you," Tucker pointed out.

"And it's not exactly the first time we've had to pull an all-nighter," Sam added. "Are you sure, Danny?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "I shouldn't drag you two into this if I can help it. It's bad enough that I'm going to be grounded until I'm thirty; you don't need to be, too."

"Well, good luck, man," Tucker said. "You'll need it."

"Don't remind me." Danny glanced in the direction of his house and sighed. "Give Jazz a call later, and she can fill you in. I probably won't be allowed out of my parents' sight all weekend, and they definitely won't let me talk to you guys."

Knowing he couldn't put off facing his parents much longer, Danny bid his friends goodbye and dragged his feet back to his house. He was starting to wish he'd gotten one of them to punch him or something so he could fall back on the just-escaped-from-an-evil-kidnapping-ghost story, but at the same time, he knew Jazz was right. His mom wouldn't let this thing with Phantom drop.

Why had he ever opened his mouth?

"Mom?" Danny called as he went in. "Dad?"

"_Danny_!" He'd hardly made it two feet before his parents were squeezing the life out of him. "Are you all right, honey? Where were you? What happened? We were so worried!"

"Did a ghost get you, Danny-boy?" Jack asked.

"Um…." What had Jazz said? Try to undermine what he'd said before, as Phantom. Or was it work with what he'd said so his parents didn't try to slaughter him when they next saw him in his ghost form, or at least not any more than they usually did?

Right. He should've asked Jazz for examples.

"Here, sweetie, sit down; you must be tired," Maddie said, ushering him to the living room couch. "I'll get you something to eat. You're probably famished, too."

"I'm sorry," Danny said. "I didn't mean to be gone all night." And all day. Thank God his mother hadn't kept him in the thermos for a week or something. He'd never have found a good excuse for that.

Maddie, not quite out of the living room, paused. "What do you mean, Danny?"

Oh, crud. That's what Jazz had meant about watching his words. "I, uh…."

"Wasn't a ghost behind this?" Jack asked, frowning as well.

Great. Now his parents really _were_ going to kill him. "Um, it's, uh, not exactly what you think it is…."

Maddie turned back and sat down beside him. "Is there something you want to tell us, sweetie?"

Danny opened his mouth, hesitated, closed it, and shook his head.

"Well, try to get some rest," Maddie said, ruffling his hair. "We'll talk about this later."

* * *

><p>At ten o'clock, Maddie peeked into Danny's room. He'd moved upstairs after nothing more than a glass of water, claiming he was tired, and they'd let him go. Jazz, who had surfaced when their joyful cries had woken her, had gone back to bed as well, but she'd emerged after only two hours, admitting that, as tired as she was, she just couldn't seem to get a decent sleep.<p>

Maddie knew that feeling, but she suspected what kept her awake was quite different than whatever disturbed Jazz's dreams. A walk wouldn't clear her head, she was nearly certain, or she might have been tempted to accompany Jazz. She was still mulling over what Phantom had said, what Danny had been about to say, and what had happened and what it could mean.

Jack's snoring, and the daylight that had found its way into the room despite the curtains, hadn't helped matters, either.

Danny looked at her with bleary eyes when she sat down on the edge of his bed. "Mom?"

"I need to know where you were, honey," she said.

Danny yawned and blinked at her. "Now?"

"You can go back to sleep after, and I won't even wake you up for lunch if you don't want me to."

Danny yawned again and scrambled to sit up in bed. "No, it's fine, I guess."

Maddie waited, and when he didn't say anything, she repeated her question. "Where were you last night?"

"Looking for a friend," Danny mumbled, not meeting her eyes. "I was going to call, but, um, my cell phone died, and I was sure I'd find him soon, so I didn't come back, and then I just sort of, um, lost track of the time."

"But why would you leave in the middle of class?" Maddie prompted. "Before lunch? Surely you weren't looking the entire time." She'd ask who exactly he was looking for once she got that response, though she had a sinking feeling that she already knew the answer.

What hold did Phantom have over Danny that would make him leave without even a word to Sam and Tucker?

"It was…. Well, I was…worried. I thought…. He was supposed to meet me, that's all, and he never misses a meeting."

A meeting? Her son _met_ with Danny Phantom? Regularly, or at least often enough that Danny had come to depend on him showing up? "Danny," Maddie said, reaching for his hand, "who were you meeting?"

Danny flinched. "You're not going to like it," he said quietly.

"I just want to know the truth," Maddie said. The exact punishment could be figured out once they realized where they'd gone wrong. What would possess Danny to meet with a _ghost_? Especially one who had proven himself to be as destructive as Phantom?

"Promise you won't tell Dad?"

"Oh, honey, I can't do that," Maddie said, though the fact that Danny had asked confirmed her suspicion.

He was friends. With a ghost. And not just any ghost, but _Danny Phantom_.

But it had to be more than that, didn't it? Friendship alone didn't account for the connection she was now terribly certain Danny shared with the ghost kid. It could, possibly, account for Phantom picking up a few of Danny's mannerisms, but it certainly didn't explain why Danny was tainted with Phantom's ecto-signature. And she couldn't think of any other reason that the Booo-merang would lock onto both Danny _and_ Phantom.

"It's just, well, he won't…take it very well."

"I'll let you tell him yourself, then, all right? Is that better?"

"Not really," Danny muttered. He sighed and hugged his knees. "Mom, not all ghosts are evil."

"Danny—"

"No, really," Danny interrupted. "I know you think they are, but they're not. And, well, er…."

"Danny Phantom isn't?" Maddie supplied. She expected Danny's jaw to drop, for him to question how she had made this leap, but instead, he simply nodded mutely. Phantom must have found Danny and told him about their encounter. Well, she supposed she should be happy that Danny was telling her anything, but the fact that Phantom had managed to get so close to Danny….

"He's my friend," Danny admitted. "And I know what you're thinking, but it's not like that. He didn't overshadow me or anything."

Maddie stared at her son in shock. Possession hadn't actually crossed her mind, but it did fit. They hadn't done nearly enough research themselves, of course, given the ethics of finding suitable test subjects, but they did suspect that repeated and prolonged overshadowing could leave a noticeable effect. A mark, a taint, a bit of contamination…. A connection.

"Uh, Mom?" Danny looked at her uncertainly. "You did hear me say _didn't_, right?"

"He's using you," Maddie realized. "Phantom is—"

"My _friend_," Danny cut in. "Mom, listen to me, okay? I was out looking for him. He was supposed to meet me, and he didn't, and it wasn't just from some ghost attack that held him up, and—"

"He's the reason you're missing classes," Maddie said. "Isn't it? You're sneaking off to meet with him. What are you doing, Danny? What were you _thinking_, trying to befriend a ghost? You can't trust them. He'll use you. He _is_ using you. Ghosts haven't maintained the concept of friendship in their afterlife. They're completely devoid of it. They—"

"_Mom_!" Danny reached out to give her a small shake, having given up the comfort of the blankets and shuffled down to sit beside her. "Please, stop. You're just telling me what you think, and I know what you think, and that's why I didn't tell you before. But Phantom's not like other ghosts, and he's not the only good ghost out there, either. Have you ever talked to a ghost? And I don't mean _questioned_ one; I mean _talked_ to one. They're not all emotionless and evil and bent on taking over the world. Some of them are nice and helpful and smart and—"

"Tricky," Maddie interrupted gently. "Danny, can't you see you've been fooled?"

Danny slapped his forehead in frustration. "I haven't been fooled," he said. "I just found out the truth. Really, if you'd just listen, maybe you would, too. Just, I don't know, _talk_ to Phantom next time you see him instead of shooting at him, okay?"

"I can't let you be friends with a ghost, honey. You're putting yourself in danger." Danny rolled his eyes. "You are," Maddie insisted. "I'm going to make sure you don't get near Phantom again, Danny. From now on, you have to wear the Spectre Deflector to school."

"Wait, _what_?"

The instant panic in Danny's voice alarmed her. How much had he come to depend on Phantom's false friendship? How could they have been so blind to this, let it progress so far? "If you're wearing the Spectre Deflector," Maddie explained patiently, "then we'll know that Phantom isn't overshadowing you. I may not be able to stop you from seeing him, Danny, but I certainly can hamper your interaction with him until I can invent something that'll put a stop to it altogether."

"No, Mom, you _can't_!"

"Oh, sweetie, don't worry. It won't hurt you a bit, I promise. I know Phantom's the reason our inventions keep thinking you're a ghost. You've been in contact with his particular ecto-signature for too long." Even as she said it, Maddie knew it must be true, that her son had been interacting with Phantom for far too long. Phantom had hardly shown up before their inventions had developed the tendency to falsely identify Danny as a ghost. "We'll just decontaminate you first, to be sure, and I can get a pure reading of Phantom's ecto-signature from the Booo-merang."

As she'd been talking, however, Danny had sprung to his feet and backed away from her. He was still staring at her in horror, plastered against the opposite wall not three feet from the door.

"Honey, be reasonable," Maddie said, getting to her feet. "It's for your own good."

"For my _own good_?" Danny repeated, clearly not believing her. "You'll probably kill me!"

"What?" Maddie blinked in confusion, and Danny clamped his hands over his mouth, clearly wishing he could take his words back. "Danny, what are you—?" But he was already running, out the door and down the hallway.

"Jazz!" he called. "Jazz, where are you?" Maddie started to follow him as Danny slipped into Jazz's room. "Aw, crud," he muttered, evidently realizing that she wasn't there.

It did confirm her suspicion, however, that Jazz knew. Of course, Jazz had been quite vocal in her defence of Phantom of late, and she and Danny hadn't been pushing each other away as often as they once had, even considering that the two of them were teenagers. "I should have noticed from the start," Maddie murmured, her heart aching as she realized what a terrible parent she must be to have allowed this to happen.

Danny. Friends. With _Phantom_.

It would probably take quite some time for Danny to admit that Phantom had been tricking him. It was just as well that it was the weekend and Danny was grounded. They could start today.

"Danny," Maddie started again, rounding the corner into Jazz's room, "let's go—" But she broke off, startled.

Jazz's room was empty, and she kept it neat enough that Maddie knew Danny wasn't just hiding, though she did check by the bed and in the closet to be absolutely sure. Danny, however, was actually gone. But there was no way he could get to the ground by climbing out the window, short of jumping, and she doubted Danny was desperate enough to do that. And he simply didn't have the means to climb down or time to—

Phantom.

He must have been here the entire time, listening. Coming to 'rescue' Danny. Trying to disprove her words, to turn her son against his own family. Perhaps that was what he'd wanted all along: to sow dissent, to try to tear her family apart.

To think that Danny had been trying to argue that he was a _good_ ghost.

Maddie turned heel and headed downstairs. Danny was with Phantom, and she could find them using the Booo-merang. Even if it took her all day, she'd find them. And then, perhaps, she'd finally get a proper explanation.

After all, what would have possessed Phantom to use _Danny_? Given the number of children his age who were taken with Phantom, already convinced he was a good ghost, she wouldn't have thought he'd go to the trouble of convincing Danny. That he'd been successful was entirely another matter, of course. But if Phantom's reason was simply to have some leverage against the Fenton family, Maddie was sure Danny would see reason. He wouldn't put his family before a ghost.

_Unless he's already done that_, a tiny voice whispered in the back of her mind, _since he didn't tell you about his friendship with Phantom_.

"I'm tired of this chase, Danny," Maddie said, Booo-merang in hand once again. "We need to settle this." Wearily, she tossed the activated Booo-merang and climbed into the Assault Vehicle, wondering how long it would take her to catch up to Danny this time.

* * *

><p>Jazz wasn't in the library, much to Danny's dismay. The one time in recent memory when he decided to go to her first, before Sam and Tucker, and he couldn't <em>find<em> her. And he _needed_ her. She was the only one who could help him. Tucker might be able to disable the Spectre Deflector once he had it, but Jazz was the only one who could doctor something before his parents forced him into it, and, if he was lucky, she'd be able to talk them out of it before it got to that point.

Stupid Booo-merang. It had gotten him into this mess. Why couldn't his parents just ignore the inventions that clearly didn't have much use? He'd admit it wasn't _that_ bad an idea, if they were trying to hunt down a particular ghost that was actually troublesome, but, really, for him, it was just a major annoyance. Only now it had crossed the line from annoying to dangerous, since his mother had figured out it could locate him as Phantom, and….

This so wasn't good.

Danny hadn't made it to Sam's before he saw the Booo-merang spinning towards him. "Oh, no," he moaned, abruptly changing direction. The Booo-merang followed, but at least it wasn't leading his mom—it had to be her trailing it in the Assault Vehicle, after all—straight to Sam's. That would just lead to _more_ questions.

Danny made a beeline for the park, hoping he'd reach it before his mother caught up with him.

He didn't make it.

The Booo-merang hit him just before the net, and before he knew it, he was spinning down towards the earth, wrapped in one of the phase-proof nets his parents had invented.

He hit the pavement hard, but considering he was thrown into buildings and onto the ground on a daily basis, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Except for the fact that his mother was pulling the net up, asking questions he couldn't quite focus on yet, and jabbing his arm as she proceeded to drag him back to where she'd parked the Assault Vehicle.

He was still a bit dazed when she threw him in the back of the vehicle and cut the net away, but he wasn't so far gone that he didn't immediately try to get away before she could wrap something else around him.

Only, he couldn't.

Well, he couldn't go intangible, at least, since that's the first thing he'd tried. But it didn't take long before he realized he couldn't go invisible, either. Or make a shield. Or….

"Are you finished yet?" Maddie asked, looking down at him with her hands on her hips—much too close for comfort to the many weapons he knew she had concealed in her pockets.

"Uh…." Danny blinked, trying to pull his thoughts together. Why were they so scrambled? "What did you give me?"

"A little something that I think just made it out of the experimental stage," Maddie said, sitting down next to him. "Do you like it?"

It was a rhetorical question. He knew that. She didn't expect an answer. But he really _didn't_ like it. It felt like he'd been zapped with the Plasmius Maximus, without the corresponding pain. Or maybe the Ecto-Stoppo-Power-ofier. Or—

This…was not good. At all.

"You shorted out my powers," he whispered.

"I gave you an ecto-suppressant so you couldn't sneak off," Maddie corrected.

An ecto-suppressant? How the heck was his body going to react to that? And why didn't he pay more attention when she was telling him and Jazz about their latest inventions, about their projects? His dad was working on something…bigger, he knew. What had Jazz said? The blueprints had looked like a grenade launcher or something equivalent to that. He didn't remember either of them—or Jazz, when she had been filling him in—saying anything about an ecto-suppressant.

Crud.

And, wait—what was she saying? "What?"

Maddie sat opposite him and crossed her arms. "What did you do with Danny?"

"Nothing," Danny said.

She had her hood pulled back, so he could see her face. She arched an eyebrow. "Where is he, then?"

"I don't know," Danny said, thinking this conversation felt eerily like the one they'd had around this time yesterday. "With his friends?"

"Like you?"

Oh. Right. "His, uh, other friends?"

"Just tell me the truth, Phantom. I'm tired of playing games. I know you made a connection with Danny, and I know you've fooled him, but you haven't fooled me. I don't want you playing him, and don't think you can use him to get to us. Whatever you've been planning won't work. You might as well give up now."

Danny sighed. "I'm not planning anything. I never was." At least the confusion he'd been feeling was wearing off now. Maybe it was the shock of the drug in his system? He'd have to ask Jazz….

"All right."

Danny blinked. "Really? It's fine? You'll let me go?"

"No," Maddie said. "If you weren't planning anything, as you say, then, all right, I'll believe you. _If_ you can explain how and why you and Danny are connected."

Danny groaned and closed his eyes. This was _not_ the time to be the only one in the family who couldn't be thought a genius, the considerations of Genius Magazine aside, since that had just been a fluke and he was fairly certain his teachers had rescinded any special considerations he might have gotten because of it. Of course, that was probably just as well, because he likely would have just been given more work or stuff to prepare him for college, judging by what Jazz was doing all the time, and he already didn't have time to finish the homework he did have.

It didn't help that he was tired. The time in the thermos didn't really affect him, but the lack of sleep from the days and nights before did. And it was starting to catch up with him again.

Making up excuses was hard enough to do when he could think straight.

"I'm waiting, Phantom."

He was going to regret this.

"Danny," he corrected, opening his eyes to look at her. "It's Danny Phantom. I call you by your first name; you can call me by mine."

"I don't want to call you Danny," she said, "and I'd rather you didn't use my first name, either."

"No, Maddie, it's…complicated, okay? Just…call me Danny. Please. For now."

"I'm not calling you by my son's name," she snapped. And sure enough, another piece clicked into place. Her eyes went wide.

Oh, man, he was definitely going to regret this, but it was too late now.

"Danny," she mouthed, staring at him.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: A hearty thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing this story; a hundred reviews in four chapters? That's a new one for me. So, thanks, guys, and I hope this chapter is worth the wait. Also, hands up if you saw it coming.

* * *

><p>Danny Phantom. Danny Fenton. Perhaps she hadn't realized before because, when Danny Phantom had first shown up, he hadn't had a name; the press had dubbed him Inviso-Bill. Between that and being called the ghost kid and the ghost boy, it had been easy to slip <em>Phantom<em> into the mix and forget about his chosen first name: _Danny_.

He'd stolen her son's _name_.

It was worse than she'd thought. Phantom had fixated on her son, drawing out the pieces he needed. She'd thought whatever connection Phantom and Danny shared had been a simple one, something that would be easily broken. But it was beyond that now, and the more Phantom revealed, the less she understood.

How many times had she sworn Phantom had been about to call her '_Mom_'? He probably had. Because of _Danny_. Because Phantom had…had….

"I can't believe this," Maddie said, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry." This was from Phantom. As if he could ever be sorry. As if a ghost, who didn't have emotions, could feel remorse. "I didn't, um, want to have to tell you like this." Another pause. "I guess I should have told you before, but I thought you'd, you know, hunt me or experiment or something…."

He was looking at her anxiously as if he expected her heart to melt, to swear she'd never dream of hunting him or experimenting on him or letting Jack dissect him molecule by molecule.

All she could do was stare at him, horrified. What had he put Danny through to achieve that degree of a connection?

Phantom was starting to look extremely nervous now, and she suspected that, ghost or not, he could read the look on her face. "Mom?" he ventured.

"Don't call me that."

Phantom flinched. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I didn't…. I mean, I…. It wasn't intentional or anything, I swear. It was just an accident. I didn't even know this would happen. I didn't think this was even possible. And I was going to tell you earlier, but then Dad just went on about how he was going to rip ghosts apart, and I kind of got…scared."

Maddie's hands clenched. "Don't call him that," she said stiffly. "And don't make excuses. I don't want to hear them."

Phantom swallowed, and he shifted slightly, edging away from her. Clearly he'd been hoping for a sympathetic reaction. But she had no sympathy for him; she was worried about Danny. What effects had this connection had on Danny? Clearly he'd shared Phantom's concerns about what she'd do about it, but surely Danny would know they'd never lay a finger on him regardless of the scientific potential. They could easily get whatever information they needed about the connection between him and Phantom from Phantom alone.

Why Danny was protecting Phantom, claiming that the ghost was a friend, was beyond her.

"So what does this mean for Danny?" Maddie asked quietly.

Phantom looked startled. "What?"

"What does this mean for Danny?" Maddie repeated. "My Danny."

"Your—?" Phantom still looked honestly surprised, and, though she couldn't quite understand it, honestly relieved.

Perhaps he wasn't as good with those masks of emotions as she'd assumed. _Relief_ wasn't one that she could picture someone in his situation feeling.

"Well?"

"No, it's…. He's fine," Phantom said. "I don't think it had any bad effects on him at all. This…connection we share, I mean."

Maddie's eyes narrowed. "And what effects are there?"

"Oh, well, um…. Just, you know. Normal stuff."

"Such as?"

"It's mostly on my end," Phantom said. "I, uh, picked up some of Danny's traits. And things like the, er, tendency to call you and Jack—"

"Mom and Dad. Yes. I've noticed. But what about Danny?"

"He, um…." Phantom looked at a loss for words. "Well, you should know better than me. You've been living with him. How has he changed?"

"How has he changed?" Maddie repeated. "He hasn't been getting any sleep, unless he's in school, which means he's either failing his classes or dangerously close to it. He skips out on classes—to meet with _you_, apparently—and repeatedly misses his curfew. He shuns his family and does everything he can to get out of our family ghost patrols, and now I know it's because he'd rather spend his time with a ghost than with us. His own _family_. What's changed, Phantom, is that you've been trying to take my son away from me."

"Oh." A small pause. "I was kinda hoping you wouldn't see it like that."

"How do you expect me to see it? Danny's clever, Phantom, but he's a good kid who's blinded by his good intentions." She sighed. "He never used to be this tired. Whatever connection you have with him is draining him. He can't see that, but I can."

"I don't mean to."

"It doesn't matter. You are. If you pretend to have an ounce of compassion, Phantom, even if it's just something you've stolen from my son, use it to see what you're doing to him. Let him go." She took a breath and made her decision. "If you let him go, I'll let you go."

"But I don't…. I mean, it doesn't…. I can't really…."

"It'll be worse for you," Maddie said bluntly, "if I have to take you back to the lab and figure out how to sever the connection myself. I would suggest that you do it now."

Phantom sagged against the seat. "You still don't understand," he muttered.

"Then explain it to me. I'm listening." It had surprised her to learn that this approach worked with Phantom, but she wasn't going to miss any opportunity to learn more about him.

"I'm different from other ghosts," Phantom said, looking up at her. "Whatever you're thinking probably doesn't apply to me. So maybe you should just, uh, let it go? Please?"

Maddie raised her eyebrows but otherwise ignored his final plea. "Oh? And how are you different?" He was probably going to go on about how he was a good ghost and some such nonsense, but she'd realized by now that if he was, she had her son to thank.

How much had Phantom taken from him? She hadn't known that a connection to this degree was even possible.

"It's complicated," Phantom said, shifting a bit in his seat. "I'd rather not tell you here. Why don't you just let me go, and you can find Danny, and we'll finish this conversation later? Or better yet, you can just let this go and forget about it?"

Maddie snorted. "You haven't told me where Danny is. And don't tell me you don't know, Phantom, because I know you do. There isn't any other way Danny would have gotten out of Jazz's room so quickly."

"He's probably with Sam and Tucker," Phantom said. "I mean, they're his friends, right? Where else would he go?"

Where else indeed. Did Sam and Tucker know of Danny's connection with Phantom? Jazz probably did, given how Danny had been trying to find her, and he was so close to his friends that she doubted he'd keep it a secret from them. After all, Sam and Tucker had never, as far as she could remember, threatened Phantom. Not like her and Jack. If Danny was trying to protect Phantom, for whatever reason, she could understand why he hadn't wanted to tell them.

But that realization still hurt.

"Then perhaps I can get my answers out of the two of you at once," Maddie said. She started towards the front of the Assault Vehicle, knowing the ecto-suppressant would prevent Phantom from slipping off. In the state he was in now, he was no better than a human.

"Uh, wait," Phantom said, catching her arm. There was a brief flash of light and Phantom's gloves vanished. He jerked back immediately and stared at his bare hands in horror. "What did you give me again?"

"An ecto-suppressant," Maddie said.

Phantom was still staring at his hands. "And, um, it does what, exactly?"

"As you said, it shorts out your powers."

"No," Phantom said, peering up at her, anxious again. "I don't want my explanation. Give me the scientific-y explanation that doesn't make sense."

Maddie sighed. "If it doesn't make sense, why do you want to hear it?"

"Just humour me. Please?"

Maddie sat back down. Explaining her invention to a ghost wasn't what she'd planned on doing. "I'll put it in layman's terms for your benefit," she said dryly. "It suppresses your ecto-energy. And that means, of course, that you can't access your ecto-abilities and try to harm me or anyone else. Or escape."

"So it reacts with ectoplasm or something, right? And so it…. Oh, this is just _great_." Phantom buried his head in his hands. "I get no say at all."

Maddie didn't quite understand that comment, but she didn't bother to question Phantom about it. Whether he was referring to the effects of the drug or how soon they were going to finally finish this conversation didn't matter, because he was right. He didn't get a say in it. She'd been chasing Danny—and then him—around for too long to put this off any longer, regardless of what Phantom would like.

"How long," Phantom asked, raising his head, "until this drug wears off?"

"For you? I'm not quite sure. You're the first test subject at your particular level that I've had the chance to try it on." She and Jack had yet to dissect a humanoid ghost to find out how closely their interior mimicked that of humans, and she didn't want to immediately jump to the assumption that it was as simple as that of the lesser ghosts they had examined. Most of those ghosts had been hardly more than two eyes set in a blob of ectoplasm, their interior barely extinguishable from their exterior. As it was, they were making an assumption that a humanoid ghost's interior would be similar to an insect's, imitating an open circulatory system rather than a closed one. After all, when a ghost like Phantom was just an impression of post-human consciousness, she hardly expected the imprint of the inner workings of his body to be as strong as his outward appearance.

"Then how long until it, I dunno, fully kicks in? If you were to guess? I mean, I can't go intangible or anything, but how long until it starts really affecting me? The rest of me? Not just my powers?"

"You're not going to degrade, if that's what you're worried about," Maddie informed him. "I certainly didn't give you enough to destabilize you. It's not designed for that, anyway. It's just a suppressant."

"I'm not changing just for the fun of it," Phantom shot back, the panic all too clear in his voice. "You've gotta let me go!"

"I want answers," Maddie said patiently.

Phantom groaned. "Write down your questions and I'll answer and return them to you, then! Just let me go."

Maddie chuckled. "I'm not about to trust a ghost."

"Yeah?" Phantom said. "Fine. How about your son? Do you trust Danny? If we're connected, him and me, then don't you think I'm not going to hurt you or anyone else for that very reason? For all I know, _he's_ the one who can sever this connection or whatever, so I'm not going to be doing anything to anyone who's human. Because if there's anyone who could kill me, it's probably Danny." He crossed his arms in a huff. "Besides, I didn't attack you before, did I? Any time I've ever seen you and you've been shooting at me? Or even when you caught me? No. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"You seem to be missing the point, Phantom." Besides which, he had attacked them before. Not often, admittedly, but it had happened. Of course, Phantom would probably have some explanation for that, something that placed any incident where he'd put them in danger or shot at them with one of his ghost rays in a falsified, much more reasonable light. But Maddie knew better than to try arguing that point now.

"I'm not the one missing the point!" Phantom exclaimed as a flash of light turned the top half of his costume into a T-shirt, still bearing the familiar logo on his chest. "This isn't intentional! Something went wrong."

Maddie opened her mouth to respond to that, but at that moment, the side door of the Assault Vehicle slid open. "Mom?" It was Jazz. "What's going—?" The girl broke off. "Danny!" she exclaimed.

Phantom, seeing his chance, scrambled out the door, dodging Maddie and knocking Jazz over with scarcely more than a "Sorry!" yelled over his shoulder.

Maddie sighed. "How long have you known, Jazz?" she asked, turning to look fully at her daughter. If Jazz was on a first name basis with Phantom, too, it certainly couldn't have been a recent revelation.

Jazz, now back on her feet, froze as she was dusting herself off. "Known what?" she asked in a falsely innocent voice.

"Danny's secret," Maddie said quietly. "The one he kept from us."

Jazz glanced over her shoulder at Phantom's retreating figure, then turned back to her mother. She climbed inside and closed the door behind her. "Since shortly after it happened," she admitted. "He didn't tell me; I just found it out by accident."

"And you didn't tell us?"

"It was his secret, Mom. Not mine."

"But the _danger_—"

"Danny can take care of himself," Jazz interrupted. "He's been doing it for a while now. I help him a bit, but Danny's strong and sensible, and he's handled things wonderfully. I would have thought you'd be proud."

"Proud?" Maddie repeated. "Phantom's been using Danny, and you want me to be proud because Danny never told us?"

Jazz looked startled, and she didn't school her features quickly enough. "I mean," Jazz corrected, "that you should be proud of how well Danny's taken it."

Jazz's lie—neither of her children had ever been very good at telling them, at least not when Maddie was paying enough attention to pick them out, which she was beginning to suspect wasn't nearly often enough—only confirmed Maddie's growing suspicion. She still didn't have the whole story. There was still something Phantom wasn't telling her, something Jazz knew and wasn't saying.

"Are you going to tell me the truth," Maddie asked quietly, "or do I need to find Danny?"

Jazz looked torn. "Mom," she said, "please don't."

"Jazz, I have to."

Jazz shook her head. "You really don't. Danny and Phantom—"

"Are connected," Maddie interrupted. "I can't let that continue. You've seen how Danny's been since Phantom instigated that connection. He's wearing out. It has to stop."

"Danny's resilient," Jazz said softly. "He's stronger than you think, and Phantom's not hurting him, Mom. Honest. Danny's actually better for it."

"Better for it?" Maddie repeated incredulously. "Jasmine Fenton, your brother's formed a connection with a _ghost_. He can't be _better for it_."

"Danny and Phantom are more than just connected, Mom," Jazz said. "You can't split them apart, so don't try." She hesitated, then admitted, "Danny tried it himself, once. It didn't work out. Phantom didn't hurt him," she added quickly, "but he just…. He lost a bit of himself, I think, if that makes sense. It's best you just leave it. Please. Trust me, even if you can't trust Danny. Let it go."

Let it go. Phantom's plea, now coming from Jazz.

"Jazz, I can't. Danny—"

"Do it for Danny," Jazz broke in.

"Honey, as much as you may think Phantom and Danny being connected is fine, it's really not. Danny's in more danger than you realize."

Jazz sighed. "Well, if you question either of them again, don't bring any weapons. Danny would never tell you anything if he thought you could shoot him."

"Sweetie, I wouldn't shoot Danny. You know that."

"But you'd shoot Phantom," Jazz countered, "and in Danny's eyes, it's not much different. Please, Mom. I was willing to wait until Danny was ready to tell me himself. Why can't you?"

"It's dangerous," Maddie repeated. She wasn't about to let anything continue when it meant Danny was in danger.

"Then at least don't tell Dad."

Now Jazz was unknowingly repeating Danny's words. How could she have not noticed any of this before? Her children had clearly grown together in the process of sorting it out, and she and Jack had been blissfully blind to it all.

"Your father has to know, too," Maddie said gently, "but Danny will be the one to tell him. I promised him that already." She hesitated, then asked, "Have you seen Danny recently?"

Jazz shook her head. "I spoke with Sam and Tucker to tell them he's back, since I thought you wouldn't let him because he was grounded. I didn't think you were going to let Danny out of the house."

"It wasn't my choice," Maddie said softly. "Phantom took him." She reached over and picked the Booo-merang out of the remains of the net. "See if you can find your brother, Jazz."

Jazz was staring at the Booo-merang in her hand. Finally, she sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I'll do my best, Mom," she said. She looked resigned as she opened the door and jumped out of the Assault Vehicle. "But I wish you'd just listen to me for once. I know what I'm talking about."

And to Maddie's dismay, Jazz turned and walked off without another word.

* * *

><p>Danny was huddled against the base of a tree, back in human form, though now it was by choice instead of because of the ecto-suppressant, even if the ecto-suppressant was keeping him from changing back. He'd really thought his mother had figured out his secret, and then it had turned out to be a misunderstanding, and he'd been relieved, because it was safer if she didn't know and it meant he'd have a lot less explaining to do, but then he'd also been….<p>

Well, disappointed. A bit. And anxious, because now he was in the same boat again. His mom might have it wrong, but she was darn close, especially after everything he had told her, and he knew she wasn't going to let this rest.

So he wasn't really surprised when the Booo-merang hit him again. The footsteps that followed only confirmed it.

"Danny?" Rustling from the leaves as his mother settled down beside him and tucked the Booo-merang away for future use. "Sweetie?"

"I can't do this, Mom," Danny said, his voice cracking. He didn't turn to look at her, instead staring dully ahead. "I just…. I can't." It was too hard, knowing she was going to keep hunting him down and questioning him no matter what form he was in.

"Phantom was looking for you, wasn't he? He was coming here." When Danny didn't respond to that, his mother reached out and touched him gently on the arm. "I can help you break this connection, Danny. You don't have to go through this anymore."

Danny finally faced her. "It's not that, Mom." He didn't really want to say this next part, but he had to. "It's you. You're hunting me like a ghost." Nodding at her pocket, where he could see the tip of the Booo-merang sticking out, he added, "Don't deny it."

"It's for your own good, honey," Maddie insisted, though she couldn't hide the hurt expression that had flitted across her face at his words. "You don't realize what Phantom's done to you."

"Phantom hasn't done anything to me," Danny said quietly.

"I know you don't want to see it," Maddie began, "but your connection with Phantom simply isn't healthy. It's draining you."

"It's fine," Danny said. "It's…. Mom, you don't get it, but I don't want you hounding me until you understand, okay? Please, just…let it go."

"Danny, I need to know what's wrong. If it's not your connection with Phantom, what is it? I can't keep standing by and seeing you get hurt now that I realize how serious it is."

"But you don't," Danny said softly.

"I think I do."

Danny shook his head. "You don't. You don't understand, you don't realize anything, and you don't stand by and watch me get hurt. Mom…." He trailed off again, still not convinced he should say this. "Danny Phantom isn't…. I mean, I'm not…."

He still didn't want to tell her. Even after he'd thought he had, even after he'd thought she'd figured it out, he still didn't want to have to actually say it.

"Honey, I promise I'll listen," Maddie said. "You just need to tell me so I can help."

"You can't help." Danny hunched further down, hugging his legs more tightly. "You want to help me, but you can't, because I'm not in trouble. So I don't need help. I have more trouble with other kids at school than I do with the existence of Danny Phantom." Well, maybe not really, since the fact that he was half ghost was a primary reason a bunch of ghosts came out of the Ghost Zone and tried to make his life miserable, but still.

"Why can't you just tell me, Danny?"

"Why can't you just accept that Phantom's a good ghost?" Danny whispered.

"Oh, sweetie, don't start that again."

"I have to."

Maddie was silent for a moment. "If Phantom's a good ghost," she said, "then I imagine it's entirely because of his connection to you, isn't it?"

Well, he couldn't exactly deny that one. "It's…. This isn't what you think it is, Mom," Danny admitted.

"Oh? Then what is it?"

"Not a connection."

A soft chuckle. "What else could it be? Between Phantom's mannerisms and the fact that his ecto-signature has contaminated you, I very much doubt that you two aren't connected."

"Well, I guess we sort of are, but…."

"But?"

"It's not what you think. We're not…separate."

Maddie jerked back. "He's overshadowing you? Now? I've been speaking with Phantom?"

"No, well, not really. Mom…. Phantom's not…." He trailed off again. "Danny Phantom," he said, trying a different tactic. "Danny Fenton. Don't you get it? We're the same." There. He'd said it.

Why hadn't he made sure she hadn't brought any guns with her first?

"Danny, I don't know what Phantom told you, but—"

"It's just me, Mom. It's always just been me."

"You're not a ghost, sweetie," Maddie said, smiling again. "You're just confused."

"Tell that to the Booo-merang," Danny retorted. "Or the Fenton Finder. Heck, even the Ghost Gabber picks me up."

"Because of your association with Phantom." It was her patient mother voice, the one she always used to explain things when she was certain he didn't understand what she was telling him.

"Because I _am_ Phantom." He wanted to change, to show her, just to get it over with, but the ecto-suppressant was still stopping him from reaching his ghost half.

That was probably just as well. She still didn't get it, and she'd definitely shoot him if he went ghost.

"Danny, you're not a ghost." There it was. Not revulsion, but worry. She didn't believe him, he couldn't prove it, and she thought he was losing his mind. Because of some connection with Danny Phantom.

It was kind of ironic, really.

Danny got to his feet. "No," he said quietly. "I'm not a ghost, exactly. I'm just a half ghost."

"Danny—"

"Mom, it makes sense if you think about it. You just don't want to admit that your son is someone you've been hunting."

Maddie got to her feet, a determined expression on her face. "Danny, stop this," she said. She grabbed his hand and held it to his heart. "You're alive," she said. "Feel that. Feel this." She waved an arm around her. "You think, you feel, you grow, you adapt."

"I can also walk through walls, disappear, and fly," Danny deadpanned. "Standard ghost stuff."

Maddie sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine, then. Show me."

She still didn't believe him. Well, he was kind of expecting that now. "I can't," Danny said.

This earned him a small, sad sort of smile. "Because you're not a ghost."

"No," Danny countered, stepping a bit further away. "Because you gave me an ecto-suppressant."

"I gave _Phantom_ an ecto-suppressant," was the correction, though Danny noticed his mom's brow crease. She clearly hadn't expected him to know that.

"I'm Danny Phantom," Danny said.

Maddie closed her eyes. "You're Danny _Fenton_," she corrected.

"Yeah, now, because I'm not in ghost mode."

Maddie's eyes snapped open. "This is worse than I thought," she said.

"Actually, I think it's just different," Danny said. But he hadn't really expected her to contradict him. This scenario hadn't really crossed his mind before. Acceptance was the preferable one. Coming at him with guns blazing, not so much, but still uncomfortably possible, knowing his parents.

Denial? Yeah. He should have expected it. He just hadn't. At least, not like this.

Maddie grabbed his arm. "Come on, Danny," she said softly, though she didn't loosen her iron grip. "Maybe we should have a talk with your sister."

Jazz, not Jack. Which confirmed his suspicion, at least. "I'm not nuts."

"Of course you're not, sweetie. You're just confused."

She thought he was nuts.

Great.

Why hadn't he just avoided her from the very beginning instead of returning the Booo-merang?


	6. Chapter 6

Jazz was in her room, staring at a blank piece of paper, knowing she should be putting down ideas for the college application essay but unable to do it.

It would be nice to think that she could just go back to bed, but she'd always had trouble sleeping in the middle of the day, even when she was tired as she was right now. And now, she just couldn't focus. She was worried about Danny. She knew he didn't know what to do, and she knew that he didn't always pick the best course of action when he didn't have any time to really think things through. It wasn't the same as when he was fighting a ghost. She'd never question his judgement in a fight. But intellectual battles had never been Danny's thing, and their mother….

Well, Maddie was getting awfully close to Danny's secret, and Jazz wasn't sure Danny would be able to keep it if Maddie didn't just stop.

The quiet knock at her door made Jazz look up. "Come in," she said softly, having a sinking feeling she knew what this was about.

Sure enough, Maddie came in, dragging Danny behind her. She closed the door and the two of them sat down on Jazz's bed. Maddie didn't let her son go.

"We need to talk," Maddie said.

Jazz swallowed and looked at Danny.

"She knows," Danny said dully. "I told her. She just doesn't believe me."

"What?" Maddie's gaze snapped to Jazz. "You _knew_?"

"Like I said," Jazz said. "I found out shortly after it happened. I just didn't tell Danny I knew."

Maddie shook her head. "That's not what I mean. Jazz, you knew how far this went? You encouraged it? And you didn't tell us?"

"Told you she doesn't believe me," Danny said bluntly.

Jazz switched her gaze back to her mother. "Mom, what's going on?"

Maddie sighed. "Jazz, I think you already know. Danny thinks he's Danny Phantom."

Silence.

"But…." Jazz couldn't help but hesitate. "He is."

"Jasmine, please. You shouldn't encourage him."

"No, Mom, he really is." Jazz glanced at Danny again. "If she doesn't believe you, why not just show her? I mean, you did tell her. Showing her can't be that much worse."

"I can't go ghost," Danny explained. "Mom gave me an ecto-suppressant when I was Phantom and it shorted out my powers. It hasn't worn off yet."

"Jazz, really. Surely all your psychology books don't tell you the best thing to do is to encourage Danny's delusion?"

"It's not a delusion, Mom," Jazz said softly. "Danny really _is_ Danny Phantom. I've seen him change myself. That's how I found out."

"Oh, not you, too," Maddie said unhappily. "Jazz, I don't know what Phantom told you—"

"He didn't tell me anything," Jazz said. "I saw it for myself. I'd known something was wrong; I just hadn't ever imagined that it was what it turned out to be." She joined them on her bed, sitting next to her mom. "Danny should have told you before," she said quietly, "but can you really blame him for keeping it a secret?"

"For how long?" Maddie demanded suddenly as she turned on Danny, a quaver in her voice.

"Since I got the Fenton Portal working," Danny said, still keeping a monotone voice. "I guess I should have unplugged it before I turned it on, but in my defence, I didn't know I was pushing the 'on' button. It was dark in there."

Maddie frowned. "There isn't an 'on' button," she said. "There's just an 'off' button, and that's only the emergency switch to kill the power."

"The 'on' button's inside," Danny said, finally looking at her and letting some expression seep into his voice. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Maddie shook her head. "No. This has gone on for long enough, you two. I don't know how Phantom managed to convince you of this, Danny, or what you actually saw, Jazz, but I can't stand for it. This has to stop. My son is _not_ a ghost. It's not only ludicrous, it's also impossible. You can't be dead and alive at the same time."

"Well, I don't think I technically am," Danny said slowly. "Jazz? Can you explain it?"

"We think Danny's caught in a state in between," Jazz said quietly, keeping a watchful on her mother to judge her reaction. "It's not that he's not alive, and it's not exactly that he's not…dead, but that he's both at the same time. A paradox. Like a play on the Copenhagen interpretation of Schrödinger's cat." She went on to explain what they believed, noting that Danny would still be able to live and die like anyone else. She didn't add that they _knew_ Danny would still have as normal a life as possible for a half ghost because they had Vlad as an example, but she hoped she sounded earnest enough that Maddie would just take her at her word.

But when Maddie just buried her head in her hands without a word, Jazz couldn't help but be worried about how her mother was taking it all.

* * *

><p>This wasn't possible. Regardless of Jazz's theories, this just wasn't possible. <em>Danny's not a ghost<em>. How many times had she said that to Jack?

And how long could she keep putting everything down to a connection with Phantom?

She needed to get rid of it. She needed to break that first. To start, she needed to decontaminate Danny. And, from the sounds of it, Jazz. But Danny was her priority.

Maddie stood up, ignoring the startled looks on her children's faces. "We need to get to the lab," she said.

Danny and Jazz exchanged glances, but they stood up, too. "Mom," Jazz began tentatively, "maybe it's best if you—"

"We're going down to the lab," Maddie repeated firmly. She started out, and they trailed after her.

The Fenton Ghost Catcher was in the corner of the lab where they'd left it. She dragged it out to the middle of the room, careful to avoid the experiment of Jack's that was still set up on the counter. She checked that she had it facing the right way—with the _separate_ side away from her—and turned back to her kids. "Come on, Danny," she said.

Danny had frozen in place. "Um…."

Jazz pushed him forward. "Go on," she said, adding something else that Maddie couldn't quite catch. Danny shot her a worried look but came forward anyway.

The reason for her son's reluctance became clear the moment she'd dropped the Fenton Ghost Catcher on him. He _had_ been overshadowed, likely the entire time. Danny Phantom was forced out of his body, and he lost no time in going invisible before she could take any shots at him. The ecto-suppressant must not have worked as well on him as she'd thought if he could stay in control of Danny for so long. He'd probably been pretending for most of the time in the Assault Vehicle.

That wouldn't surprise her, really. He was a ghost, after all.

"Danny, sweetie, are you okay?" Maddie asked. He was still looking a bit dazed—an after-effect of being overshadowed, she knew.

"Yeah, Mom, it's totally cool," Danny said, yawning widely. "Relax. I'm fine. Just tired." Another yawn.

"But you're all right, Danny?" Maddie pressed.

He waved a hand. "Hundred percent human," he said. "Chill out."

"It must have been Danny Phantom talking, Mother!" Jazz exclaimed, earning an annoyed look from Danny before he seemed to decide glaring at her was too much trouble.

"Yeah, whatever," he said, yawning again. "I'm going to bed." Without another word, he spun on his heel and marched out of the lab.

"Danny always does seem to be tired, doesn't he?" Maddie commented. "But after last night, I can't say I blame him. I just hope it'll be better now that I'm able to sort out this connection with Phantom." She turned to her daughter then. "Come on, Jazz. I can't excuse you from this, either."

"No, of course not, Mother!" Jazz said immediately, striding up. She stood very still, arms pinned to her sides, as Maddie picked up the Fenton Ghost Catcher again.

Maddie wasn't really sure what she had been expecting. It had been possible, of course, that Jazz had just been humouring Danny, but she'd simply thought that her daughter had unwittingly formed a connection with a ghost as well. She hadn't expected to expunge Phantom a second time.

Or had it been a second time? Likely not, she decided as Phantom again made himself scarce, phasing out through the ceiling before she could react. Though she'd only seen him do it once or twice, she knew Phantom was capable of duplication. That he had managed to hold it for so long, while overshadowing both her children, simply meant he was stronger than she'd anticipated.

The ecto-suppressant probably hadn't worked at all, at least not at the dosage she'd given him. She'd have to make note of that. She and Jack had been documenting Phantom's growth as a ghost since he'd first appeared, mainly because he appeared so regularly, but even though they'd been astounded by some of the gains in his abilities, she hadn't quite been expecting this.

Jazz picked the Fenton Ghost Catcher up off the floor, standing it upright. "I'm going to take this upstairs," she said, "in case we need it again. I mean, if Danny Phantom comes back…." She trailed off.

"You still think he's a good ghost, don't you?" Maddie asked, reading her daughter's expression.

Jazz nodded, biting her lip.

"Even after he overshadowed you."

"I think he was trying to throw you off," Jazz explained. "To make you think things were more serious than they actually are. I mean, you're right. He is…was…connected with Danny, in a way. But it wasn't as terrible as you thought it was, Mom. I think it might have done both Phantom and Danny good."

"Jazz…."

"I mean it," Jazz said. "And, really, you were thinking about it all too much. You've got to admit that. And Phantom might be a ghost, but he's still a teenager. I think he was trying to play a trick on you."

"Some trick."

Jazz looked apologetic. "I don't think he knew quite the effect it would have. It's probably best if we just don't tell Dad. I mean, the idea that Danny could be part ghost is absolutely insane," Jazz added, though all of a sudden her voice was too bright, her smile too forced.

"Ludicrous," Maddie agreed. She was rather relieved to note that though her words lacked conviction, they seemed to satisfy Jazz.

Jazz hoisted the Fenton Ghost Catcher into her arms. "I'll just take this up to Danny's room," she added, "to remind Phantom not to play any pranks on us, okay?"

"Of course, honey."

Jazz disappeared up the stairs, but Maddie remained in the lab, trying to work out everything she'd learned.

Jazz's last words had seemed to confirm that Phantom and Danny were indeed connected, though Jazz was adamant that there was nothing to worry about. Of course, she knew they had to be connected somehow, even if the connection wasn't as significant as she'd begun to think. There was the matter of the Booo-merang, after all.

But Phantom…. How long had Phantom actually been overshadowing Danny? Since just the time in the park or from the time Danny had come home? She knew Phantom had had to have had something to do with Danny's reappearance so soon after she'd released him, but she couldn't be certain that he'd actually done anything harmful. For all she knew, he'd simply found Danny searching for him and returned him home.

But to assume that, Maddie knew, she'd have to admit that Phantom wasn't an evil ghost. Well, not a completely evil ghost. There were still a few occasions that would require some explaining, and she would want to learn the proper story of his connection with Danny. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to ask Danny himself now for fear that Phantom might, unbeknownst to her, overshadow Danny again without her realizing.

How could she have not noticed the fact that Danny, and then Jazz, had been overshadowed? They were her children, and she was a ghost hunter. She knew the signs. Why hadn't she seen them?

Maddie sighed. "I must be a terrible mother," she murmured. She ought to try to convince Jack that they should spend a little more quality time together as a family, with their children, rather than simply working in the lab whenever they had a free moment. Things might not have gotten this far if they'd done that.

She'd have to talk to Jack.

Tomorrow. Once she'd gotten some rest and could think clearly again. Because that's all she needed. Just a bit of rest, and this would all make sense….

* * *

><p>Danny, who had just gotten to sleep despite the brightness of his room, didn't enjoy being prodded awake. "Go away," he mumbled.<p>

"I can never go away," came the righteous-sounding response.

Danny groaned and rolled over. "We'll fix this tomorrow," he said, looking Phantom in the eye. "Just go fight ghosts or something. I'm tired."

"I, Danny Phantom, cannot allow—"

"Shut up," Danny growled. "Mom'll hear you. And if you keep that up, you won't sound any better than Technus or the Box Ghost." Phantom looked hurt by that remark, and Danny finally dragged himself into a sitting position. "Why can't you ever let me get some sleep?"

"Because we have a _duty_," Phantom insisted, though he made a clear effort to keep his voice down. He ignored Danny's smirk as he said 'duty', continuing, "A responsibility. We have to protect this town."

Danny groaned. It was too early…late…whatever…to be thinking about responsibilities. "Can't I just get one day off?"

Phantom crossed his arms. "You can't get a day off," he said simply, still hovering in front of Danny. "I can't do this without you. We need to work together. We learned that last time."

Danny yawned. "I guess it was fun," he said. "And I got to hit stuff." But he was so tired now, and he wouldn't get any sleep if he fused back with Phantom. Well, not enough, anyway, because a ghost was bound to show up, and his ghost sense would go off and wake him up, and then he'd have to fight the ghost….

Or he could leave Phantom to fend for himself for one more day while he got some sleep. That sounded really good right now, sleep….

"_Danny Fenton_!" Phantom snapped.

Danny opened his eyes quickly and blinked blearily at his separated ghost half. "Sorry," he muttered.

"I had to fix things, you know," Phantom said, with a trace of annoyance in his voice. "I overshadowed Jazz, let our mother think I orchestrated our confession."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you learn a word like _orchestrated_? I don't remember knowing that word." He did, of course. He lived with Jazz, after all. But it wasn't something he thought he'd ever use.

"Can you focus?" Phantom asked. "We need to pull our act together to convince our mother that you're not half ghost!"

Danny shrugged. "She separated us with the Fenton Ghost Catcher. She'll just assume you overshadowed me. Problem solved. Now can I sleep?"

Phantom started muttering to himself, but Jazz came in at that moment. Her soft knock on the door gave Phantom time to flick invisible, though he turned visible again when he realized she was alone. She gave them a small smile as she set down the Fenton Ghost Catcher and stepped off to one side. "Merge side is facing you," she said.

Oh, yes. Jazz paid _way_ more attention to their parents' inventions than he ever did. Even now, he rarely did more than figure out what to put on his 'must avoid' list. The Fenton Ghost Catcher was still on that list.

He should remember to add that ecto-suppressant, too.

Danny reluctantly got to his feet, hoping that he'd get lucky and would get at least an hour of sleep before a ghost showed up.

"Ready?" Phantom asked.

Danny yawned, then nodded. Phantom picked him up and flew through the Fenton Ghost Catcher. He tumbled out the other side, whole again and in human form. He looked back at Jazz. "Thanks," he said.

She smiled. "No problem, little brother. You just needed a little help pulling yourself together, that's all."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Joke's been used already, Jazz."

The smile turned into a smirk and she reached down to ruffle his hair before pulling him to his feet. "At least I didn't spend the last couple of minutes talking to myself."

"Shut up," Danny muttered.

"Who, me? Or are you talking to Phantom again?" Danny glared at her, and she laughed. "Try to get some sleep," she advised. "I'll study in the kitchen and keep an eye out for Mom. I think she's still a little shocked about everything, but your secret's probably safe. Overshadowing me was clever." She paused. "But if you do it again, I'll know it was you."

"And you'll, what, tell Mom and Dad?"

"I can always tell Mom that I think Phantom's up to something. That would keep you on your toes."

"Yeah, and she'd probably threaten to make me wear the Spectre Deflector again," Danny shot back.

Jazz's eyes widened. "She didn't."

"She did. Try to talk her out of it if she brings it up again?"

"Oh, Danny, of course I will."

"Thanks, Jazz." She might be annoying, but he really couldn't ask for a better sister. He was kind of lucky he wasn't an only child. If nothing else, he wasn't the only one his parents could embarrass.

And since Jazz knew, she covered for him. And she helped him out a lot. He probably wouldn't've been able to keep things up for this long if she hadn't helped him.

"That's what big sisters are for," Jazz said, giving him a hug. "Helping."

* * *

><p>Maddie wasn't sure how long she'd stayed in the lab before realizing there was only one way for her to put this to rest. It wouldn't take long, but she had to do it. She just…. She had to know.<p>

She moved slowly over to the computer panel, mindlessly keying in her access code. Given that they were aware of the existence of a ghost whose obsession was technology, she wasn't sure how secure their collected information truly was, but she'd agreed that it was necessary to protect their hard-earned information from someone who might misinterpret it. Or, as Jack had said, steal it. It had the same purpose as the Fenton Genetic Lock: sealing off the Ghost Portal, sealing off the database of their weaponry, sealing off their ghost records. It was meant to protect their information and, in the case of the sealed Fenton Portal, to protect the people of Amity Park.

She would admit that she'd come down a few times and realized that Jack had forgotten to close it, but he hadn't now. She punched in the appropriate information, and the doors to the Fenton Ghost Portal slid open.

And then she turned it off.

Maddie looked over to see the last echo of the neon green light dissipate, and she was faced again with the familiar hollow in the wall. She'd gotten to know it quite well when she and Jack had been planning and installing it. The months—_years—_they'd spent putting it all together…. She'd thought she knew every inch.

But she also knew her husband. It was entirely possible that Jack had decided to add his own little touch, changing the blueprints one last time and forgetting to tell her. It wouldn't be the first time he'd tweaked one of their inventions without telling her. He always meant well, but if he was excited about something, he tended to have a one-track mind, and that made him forgetful.

She loved him all the more for that, every little quirk that made her Jack the one and only Jack Fenton.

It didn't take Maddie long to unplug the Fenton Portal—it was best to be safe, after all—and track down a Fenton Flashlight. But she stood at the entrance for longer than necessary, staring in.

Even with all the lights on in the lab, it was dark in there. Only the first couple of feet had enough light to really avoid tripping on anything. She and Jack hadn't had much trouble when they'd been assembling it; they'd had a light source with them, usually, or had been able to discern things just fine with their Fenton Goggles.

Maddie swallowed, hearing Danny's voice in her head: _"The 'on' button's inside."_

Well, she'd just have to find that out for herself, now wouldn't she? The very notion was ridiculous, of course, even for Jack. She was certain that if he'd mentioned it, she would have said something. After all, she could easily have told him not to put such a thing on the inside of the portal. It wasn't any use to them there.

Maddie turned the Fenton Flashlight on and carefully walked inside. Everything was still working as well as the day they'd put it together. No signs of corrosion, no evident loose wires or bolts, and everything still in its place. She and Jack would have to power it down for maintenance later—she wasn't about to start anything so critical now when she knew she was desperately in need of rest—but she doubted it would take them too terribly long to ensure that everything was up and running as it should. It could all be done within a week, surely.

Maddie was about to admit that her little foray had been silly, a ridiculous notion she should have squashed the moment the idea had come into her head, when her flashlight beam fell on a small panel.

There it was. Two small buttons, one green, one red. Both bore clear labels: ON and OFF.

The 'on' button. The one she'd thought didn't exist, the one she'd thought they hadn't installed, opting instead for the computerized system connected to it with those cables, was on the inside of the portal.

On the inside of the….

And, unbidden, Danny's voice came to her mind once more, repeating his earlier words: _"The 'on' button's inside."_

And, impossibly, it was.

* * *

><p>AN: All right, now I'm done. *grins* This story had an astounding response, so I hope I didn't disappoint too many people. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review, namely Fluehatraya, Song of the Skies, Pheek, Cloud9timeforEmu, seantriana, nycorrall, Kiomori, awsomaniatica, Star Atomu Saturday, ColorLikeWhoa, kittyhawk09, jazzmonkey, jeanette9a, Sincerely the Sign Painter, Elle Aitch, SwiftslashxLeafstorm, Oak Leaf Ninja, Aka-sama, KimiUzumaki, PhantomPhoenix4, Annabell99, A Perplexing Puzzle, JuneLuxray2, Turkeyhead987, Amazing Bluie, DizzlyPuzzled, VampireFrootloopsRule, MickeyNC, Writer's-BlockDP, Yue Hikari, YourFavoriteCONTRACTOR, Lady GryphonInia, MadHatterMCR, Call me Mad, double-oh-nothing, Invader Johnny, DarkShadowKun, Kigyptnee, jh831, emmyrad, Superbluestar428, Wingflyer, BeachCat, Aaron Leach, Timetrixter22, FanficFemale, Katy, dreamwritergoddess, Kj-mid, Mistress moon11 (my hundredth reviewer!), Chad's Shortstack, Chrizzie1, jordylilly777, Wilona Riva, ForeverHalfa, Teah no kitsune, Miyu Hinamori, NeverEnough15, ulimo, LuNa, and SongoftheDarquePhoenix.

**Additional note: Optional continuation in **_**Confessions**_**.** But I still like this as an ending, and I would still appreciate knowing what people thought of this particular story just as it is here.


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